Jan 11 Bank of America to Buy Mortgage Lender for $4B By PBS News Hour Bank of America Corp. said Friday that it has agreed to pay $4 billion in stock for Countrywide Financial -- rescuing the battered lender that has come to represent the excesses of the subprime mortgage market. Continue reading
Dec 26 Home Prices Suffer 6.7 Percent Slide By PBS News Hour U.S. home prices fell in October for the 10th consecutive month, posting their largest monthly drop since early 1991, the widely watched Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index showed Wednesday. Continue reading
Dec 20 My understanding is that it takes .75 gallons of fuel to make one gallon of ethanol. If this is true, why is this fuel source so widely acclaimed as a great idea? Question/Comment: There are two issues I’d like to see you tackle that I have not seen anyone in the media deal with. The first has to do with the sensibility of ethanol as a renewable fuel source. My understanding is… Continue reading
Dec 14 How is the Fed to be blamed if financial institutions are reckless and greedy during periods of low interest rates? Question/Comment: Many commentators have blamed the Fed for the mortgage mess. How is the Fed to be blamed if financial institutions are reckless and greedy during periods of low interest rates? Paul Solman: You’re cheating, Lloyd. This is two e-mails… Continue reading
Aug 23 Watch Declining House Sales Indicate Slowing Economy As housing inventories reached new highs, existing-home sales in the United States fell in July to its lowest rate in more than two years. Industry economists discuss the drop and the impact of the softening real estate market on the… Continue watching